202nd Commencement Ceremony Held on May 5, 2023

On Friday, May 5, the 202nd commencement ceremony of Savannah State University (SSU) took place at T. A. Wright Stadium at 9 a.m. and was also live-streamed. You can watch the video here, to see over 350 students receive master’s, bachelor’s, and associate degrees.

Georgia State Senator, Sonya M. Halpern provided the commencement address, and presented the President Kimberly Ballard Washington, and Harold N. Washington, President of the Savannah State University National Alumni Association (SSUNAA), with a $10,000 check for the university. Mr. Washington, Senator Halpern, and President Ballard Washington are pictured above.

Senator Halpern was elected in 2020 and is currently serving in her second term in the Georgia State Senate. Representing neighborhoods across the five cities of Atlanta, including the City of South Fulton, College Park, East Point, and Union City, District 39 is one of the most socio-economically diverse districts in the state of Georgia and the country.

Though she is a relatively new legislator, she has authored / sponsored more than 10 bill that are now Georgia state law. With a passion for the arts, education, and politics, Senator Halpern has dedicated her civic and philanthropic engagement in these areas over the past two decades. In 2014 President Obama appointed her to the committee on the arts, national board of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., making her the first African-American and first Georgian to serve in this capacity since PACA’s inception in the 1950’s.

With decades of fundraising, marketing and event production experience in for-profit and non-profit environments, she launched Whiskey In A Teacup Consulting in 2019, a cultural consultancy and communications firm. Early in her career she held critical advertising sales roles at several of the country’s leading media companies including ESPN, Inc., The Walt Disney Company, and Cox Enterprises.

Senator Halpern earned her Masters in Business Administration from the University of Hartford’s International MBA Program and a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

She lives in Atlanta with her husband and three children, and is a supporter of HBCUs.

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